According to a number of members of the web4lib listserv, a number of sites have been taken down by the US government under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), in part, for copyright infringement. Mashable has more information on the taking down of Torrent-Finder.com. 82 domain names were seized and replaced with the notice below.
In related but separate news, COICA (Combating Online Infrigement and Counterfeit Act) which was introduced as a bill on September 20th, 2010 received a unanimous 19-0 pass in the Senate Judiciary Committee and is awaiting a vote from the full senate. According to "Web Censorship Bill Sails Through Senate Committee," an article on Wired, the committee moved quickly to pass the bill that would allow entire sites to be shut down, allowing government censorship without due process.
While illegal activity with regard to intellectual property should be curbed, many people are concerned about the wide-sweeping powers of this proposed bill to shut down legitimate sites without due process.
No comments:
Post a Comment